Improvement in uterine supporters



l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IMPROVEMENT IN UTERINE SUPPORTERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 49,406, dated August 15, 1865.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, S. L. HOCKERT, of the city ot' Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Uterine Supporters; and I hereby declare that the follow# ing is a full, clear, and exact description of my invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

My invention relates to an improvement in that class ot uterine supporters wherein the sacral as well as the inguinal pads are held in position on the body of thc wearer by a couple ot' stout steel-wire springs curved and arranged to tit over the hips.

The improvement IA have made consists in the method ot' securing the ends ofthe wires, and also in the construction and operation ot' the several pads.

To enable others skilled in thc art to understand and make my improvement, I willproceed to describe its construction by reference to the accompanying drawings, inwvhich- Figure l represents a perspective view of my improved uterine Supporter. sents a back view of the sacral pail.

All the drawings are lettered, and similar letters denote corresponding parts in the several views. I

I construct my improved supporter by i'orming a metallic or vulcanized india-rubber bar, A, to each en-d ot which is pivoted, by small screws t t, the inguinal pads B B, (also made of iudia-rubher,)'which are about one-eighth o1" an inch thick, and of the exact shape shown in Fig. 1. The attachment of these pads to the bar is such that they may be moved round in the arc ot'a circle, as indicated by the dotted lines in the drawings.

y Near the center of the barA arise three projections, e e e, that in the middle being at right angles to the line of the bar A, while the others stand diagonally across its face. Each of these projections has a hole through it parallel with its length, thc one in the center of the bar receiving the-wire L that supports the cup-shaped pessary T, and is held in position by a small conical nut, m, resting 011 the top or upper edge of the bar A.

The holes in the diagonal projections are for Fig. 2 repre,`

l f-.them in place.

purpose before stated, but prevents the corthe purpose of receiving the ends of the wires S S that connect with the sacral pad C. The end ot' one of' these wires is made :fast in the projection ou the bar A, to which it belongs, by screwing it therein, the end of the other wire being left perfectly plain, and is simply'bent to suit the angle of the hole through which it passes, from whence it can be drawn at pleas` ure by the person having it in use. AThe diagonal position ofthe hole, as Wellas the shape of" the wire at this point, tends to prevent its accidental disengagement. These wires S S are curved upward and backward to tit over the hips of the wearer, and terminate in two metallic blocks, P P, united to the sacral pad C by a couple of stout rivets, R R, passing through a wing ou each t block and the thick` cned portion H of the pad C. Into holes in these metallic blocks P P the ends of the wires S S are screwed, forming a hinge-like joint, which enables the supporter to be opened and put on or taken oft' without danger of springing the wires out of place.

To prevent abrasion of the parts upon which the wires rest I have covered them with soft india-rubber by slipping a small tube of that A material over the wires previous to fastening This not only accomplishes the rosion of the wires by perspiration.

The application and operation of my im proved supporter being in most respects simi lar to other uterine supporters now in use, and especially the one for which a patent was granted to Dake & Hockert, No. 41,607, afurther description is herein deemed unnecessary.

Having stated the construction of my invention, what I claim is Attaching the front ends of the wires S S to the bar A by screwing the end of one of the wires into one ot' the projections c at right angles to the line of said bar, so as to act as a hinge, while the end ot' the other wire is left perfectly plain and bent so as to passthrough a hole in the other projection c, diagonally to the length ot' the bar, to form a hook, in the manner substantially as herein shown and set forth.

S. L. HOCKERT. Witnesses:

J osiAH W. ELLs, JOHN MGKENNA. 

